Boston and New York are the two most demanding places to play baseball. Red Sox and Yankees fans expected—or demanded—that Clay Buchholz and Phil Hughes would help lead their teams to postseason glory in 2008. The teams, while more realistic and less emotional, expected Buchholz and Hughes would nail down rotation spots for playoff clubs.

The Baseball America Almanac has plenty of great features to recommend it, but one of the most underappreciated corners of it is the section that wraps up the professional baseball leagues across the world. Baseball America has long prided itself on covering baseball wherever it's played, and while space considerations have forced us to limit our coverage of international leagues in the issue, we still wrap up every significant professional league in the Almanac.

Quick, think back to your early days as a freshman in high school—when the upperclassmen couldn't resist tripping you on the way to class, loved to shove you into a wall every so often or, gulp, would swipe the miniature-sized milk carton off the lunch tray. So when it comes to the young Carlos Triunfel playing in the Arizona Fall League, would it be much of a surprise if the Mariners' infield prospect got caught looking over his shoulder, if not cautiously approaching his locker stall for the latest prank?

If I ever get a few hundred million dollars together and buy a baseball team, I'll want the general manager running my team to have a keen eye for talent. I'd want to do what the Mariners just did and hire someone like Jack Zduriencik.

With the Astros having ended his pitching career in July and then Brian Bogusevic having responded with a surprisingly strong showing at Double-A Corpus Christi, he's one of the fascinating storylines here in Arizona.

Who are the best lefty-righty pitching prospect combos? What does the future hold for Rangers first baseman/outfielder Mitch Moreland? Could lefthander Eric Berger be a steal for the Indians as an eighth-rounder?

At the Texas League all-star game in late June, shortstop Elvis Andrus seemed not far from becoming a one-man army at Double-A Frisco. The first half of the season had been full of stars and then promotions for the Rangers affiliate. One by one prospects advanced on to Triple-A Oklahoma, some on to the major leagues: Catcher Taylor Teagarden and outfielder John Mayberry departed in April. Within a three-week span just ahead of the all-star game, lefthander Matt Harrison, first baseman Chris Davis and catcher Max Ramirez followed suit.

For the casual fan of Hawaii Winter Baseball, players aren't quite household names yet, so it's difficult to remember who belongs to what organization and where these players come from. But for Jason Castro, it's pretty easy: He's Castro the Astro from Castro Valley, Calif.

The best way to describe Peoria Javelina outfielder Greg Halman is to call him "electricity on the field." The Seattle Mariner farmhand hits with light tower power, runs with game-breaking speed, and roams the outfield like a gazelle.